Indebted to the Dominant

Fifteen

Cale

Seeing Owen angry and upset was terrible, but Monday morning was worse. So much worse because when Meredith walked in, she was not only late and not dressed for work, she was crying.

"Meredith? What's going on?" Meredith's eyes were red and puffy as she stepped into my office.

"Mr. Jones, I'm so sorry to bother you with this, but my son has been arrested and is being sued by a man he got into a bar fight with. I wouldn't ask you if it wasn't important, but he's only a kid. I don't want him to go to jail for anything that wasn't his fault and they won't let him talk to me and he's my baby and I—" she let out a sob and I moved around my desk to hug her. I tried not to show affection to my clients or my staff, but Meredith had woven her way into my heart over the last three years. She was more of a mother to me than my own mother was.

"It's okay, Meredith. It'll be all right. I'll help in any way I can. I'll go see about getting him out and I'll get everything sorted and hopefully, he won't have to even go to court, okay?" she nodded and stepped away.

"Thank you, Mr. Jones. Thank you so much," I handed her a few tissues and gave her a smile.

"And, Meredith," she looked up at me, "don't worry about any fees. I'll take care of it. Just worry about your family and if you want to take a few days off to be with your family, do so, okay?" her eyes brimmed to tears again and she hugged me once more.

"Thank you so much. I really don't know how to thank you. I'm sorry; I really don't mean to be a mess. Oh god. Okay, his name is Owen. He has a different last name as mine. His last name is Bales," she continued giving me information about her son, but I wasn't listening. I'd stopped listening after Owen.

Dear god no. If Owen had been arrested, then Ben had decided to press charges against him which was utter bullshit. The club has a strict consent policy. There was no way this was going to hold up in court. What was Ben doing? He was going to potentially be arrested for attempted rape, especially if I and Daniel had a say in anything.

I told Meredith I would everything in power to help her son and if she would wait at home, I'd have him home soon.

I called Daniel and informed him of the situation only to find out he was aware. He'd been sent the official papers that morning by Ben's lawyer.

I phoned the sheriff's office to ask about Owen's case only to find he'd been released. The sheriff wouldn't tell me who released him, only that Owen identified him as a friend and he was able to pay the small fee.

I rushed to Owen's apartment, wondering who could possibly have let him out. Maybe it was Ken, but I wish he had contacted me first.

I was about to knock on the door when it opened and Xander was facing me.

"Ah, Mr. Jones. What a surprise. What are you doing here?"

I gritted my teeth, "I could ask you the same thing,"

"Well, I wanted to make sure Owen got home okay. Not every day I have to bail a potential intern out. Of course, I still plan on hiring him, if he'll accept that is. Especially since what happened to you guys the other night. Very sorry to hear about that, by the way. But you know how it goes, you let pride get in the way of your Dominant duties and it's more than likely going to come back and bite you in the ass,"

I tried to keep my anger in check, but all I really wanted to do was punch him in the face.

"If you'll excuse me, Xander, I need to speak to my client. Alone," I scowled and Xander smiled coldly.

"Oh, you're his lawyer? That's interesting. Well, have fun, I suppose,"

"Hey, Xander do you want some, oh—" Owen stood in the hallway with a cup of tea.